Reference Resources for Teachers & Parents

Sometimes even adults need reference help. The sites listed here are general reference materials for parents and teachers.

Resources in this category:

Baby Name Box
http://www.babynamebox.com/

A comprehensive database of baby names and meanings from all over the world. Includes articles about preconception, pregnancy, and parenting. In addition, it includes a blog and a forum for pregnancy and parenting tips.

Blue Web'n
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/

"Blue Web'n is a searchable database of over 1000 outstanding Internet learning sites categorized by subject area, audience, and type (lessons, activities, projects, resources, references, & tools)."

Community Learning Network
http://www.cln.org/

"The Community Learning Network WWW home page is designed to help K-12 teachers integrate technology into their classrooms. This site has over 265 menu pages with more than 5,800 annotated links to free resources on educational WWW sites -- all organized within an intuitive structure. Since September of 1996, visitors from 165 different countries have made over 16 million hits on the CLN Web site."

The Education Index
http://www.educationindex.com/

The primary goal of The Education Index is "to provide learners and educators with access to the best educational Web sites in a variety of subjects and lifestages." It contains a wide variety of links of interest to educators and parents. For teachers, there's even a coffee shop chat room!

Encarta Online Encyclopedia
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/artcenter.aspx

An online version of Microsoft's Encarta Encyclopedia.

Filamentality
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/fil/

"Filamentality is a fill-in-the-blank interactive Web site that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Web, gathering good Internet sites, and turning Web resources into learning activities. It helps combine the "filaments" of the Web with a learner's "mentality". Support is built-in through Mentality Tips that guide you along the way to creating a Web-based activity you can share with others even if you don't know anything about HTML, Web servers, or all that www-dot stuff."

Fire Safety.gov For Kids
http://www.firesafety.gov/kids/flash.shtm

Fire Safety.gov comes from the United States Fire Administration which wants to help prevent fires. The Kids Page is full of tips that can help you and your family be safe from fire. Visit this site to learn about fire safety, play games, take quizzes, color pictures and become a Junior Fire Marshall. You'll need Flash to view the page!

For Educators
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/index.cfm

"For Educators is a clearinghouse of ideas, from educators to educators. It offers teaching units, student handouts, timely reports and background material for media education across the curriculum, K - 12. "

Free Worksheets
http://www.freeworksheets.com/

"Free Worksheets has 2000+ free educational worksheets toprint or download. We add 100 - 200 new worksheets eachweek. Worksheets are available for the following subjects:Math, Phonics, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, KindnessTo Animals, Geography, Thinking Skills, Reading, and Sentences& Writing. Also included are Activity and Miscellaneousworksheets. The majority of [the worksheets] are for ages 3-10."

Helping Children Succeed in School
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/succeed/

"Helping Children Succeed in School is a program written by University of Illinois Extension educators that gives successful strategies for parents and caregivers to help their children succeed in school." Topics include parental involvement, grades, stress, learning styles, test taking, and getting extra help.

The History Channel Classroom
http://www.history.com/classroom/

This web site hosted by the History Channel provides lesson plans for teachers and study guides for students. Teachers and students can peruse the topics on this site ranging from the significance of Ellis Island to the history of the Stock Market.

Infoplease: All the Knowledge You Need
http://www.infoplease.com/

All-in-one encyclopedia, almanac, dictionary, thesaurus, atlas, and biography reference! Contains brief information on the people, places, things and events in our world, from sports to science, countries to holidays, and just about everything in between.

Kid Info
http://www.kidinfo.com/

This site gives students, young children, parents and teachers lots of links for information about many different topics. Students can get help with homework and research projects about American History, Science, Health and much more. There are also general reference links to atlases, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.

LD Online: Learning Disabilities Information and Resources
http://www.ldonline.org/index.html

This searchable site offers information about learning disabilities and A.D.D. You can learn where to get help and when national LD conferences and other events are held. There's an electronic bulletin board for connecting with other teachers and parents as well as a KidZone that offers artwork and stories by young people with learning disabilities.

Lesson Plans and Resources for Social Studies Teachers
http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/index.html

Find lesson plans and other social studies resources gathered from the Internet for teachers. Included are newsgroups and mailing lists, educational standards and curriculum frameworks, and online activities.

MarcoPolo
http://www.marcopolo-education.org/home.aspx

Find "professionally developed lesson plans, classroom activities, materials to help with daily classroom planning, and powerful search engines."

National Biological Information Infrastructure
http://www.nbii.gov/

"The NBII is dedicated to the development of an electronic "federation" of biological data and information sources." This site has "Invasive Species", "Biodiversity, systematics, and collections", "International:Biological information sites in other countries", "Amphibians", "Botany", "Biology in News", "Education", etc. Especially under "Education", it provides "educators, parents, and students of all ages with access to online resources that emphasize the teaching of biology, biodiversity, and ecology. Included are activities, lesson plans, experiments, projects, resources, and references for classroom and home use."

NEWTON's Ask A Scientist archive
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/archive.htm

An archive of questions received and answers composed through NEWTON's Ask A Scientist service for K-12 students and educators. The following subjects are represented: astronomy, biology, botany, chemistry, computer, general science, engineering, environmental, mathematics, molecular biology, physics, veterinary, weather, zoology. The archives cover the years 1991 to 2001.

Online Newshour Extra: News for Students
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/index.html

Filled with news on current events, this site also includes a Daily Buzz, news organized by subject area (for example, Arts/English and Science), as well as a section for teachers with lesson plans related to the site's content. The site’s mission is to help you make connections between the news and the world around you.

Online Newshour Extra: News for Students
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/index.html

Filled with news on current events, this site also includes a Daily Buzz, news organized by subject area (for example, Arts/English and Science), as well as a section for teachers with lesson plans related to the site's content. The site’s mission is to help you make connections between the news and the world around you.

OWL Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/index.html

The English language can be a little tough when it comes to grammatical rules. This site from Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) breaks down many of the rules of English grammar, punctuation and spelling. There are also good handouts and exercises to use in the classroom.

Small Planet
http://www.smplanet.com

This Web site contains articles, strategies, lesson plans, links, and materials for teachers and students. You can also learn to make your own Web pages.

Special Education Resources on the Internet
http://seriweb.com/

"Special Education Resources on the Internet (SERI) is a collection of Internet accessible information resources of interest to those involved in the fields related to Special Education. This collection exists in order to make on-line Special Education resources more easily and readily available in one location."

Student's Classroom
http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/index.asp?flash=false

This site is packed full of games, quizzes, skill building activities, and tons of information. Parents and Teachers can even come here to get the latest stats about their schools and even colleges. Website has both Flash and Non-Flash Media viewing options available.

Typing Pal Online
http://www.typingpal.com/index.asp

Typing Pal offers a free basic typing course to improve keyboarding skills. The site also offers a useful typing test to estimate typing speed and ten tips to improve typing performance. Learning exercises, text practice sets, and information about ergonomics add to the comprehensiveness of the site. Typing Pal also offers a free demo version of Typing Pal Junior, a keyboarding course designed for 7 - 14 year olds. Full versions of both software packages are commercial products offered for sale on the site.

Utah Education Network
http://www.uen.org/

This website provides many resources for educators and students within and outside of Utah. By choosing resources, students or educators can search for lesson and curriculum plans, educational games on the Internet and other learning resources. The website provides resources for students and teachers from K-12 through college.

Weekly Reader for Teachers
http://www.weeklyreader.com/teachers/

"News and views to share with your students: View this week’s feature article and word of the day." There are activities and articles for all grade levels pre-K to high school.

Youth Net
http://www.youth.net/

"This server is a place where youth (of all ages) around the world can safely meet each other, and participate in discussions, interactive learning projects, and activities that meet their needs." Also serves as a home for many K-12 Internet projects and has resources for kids, teachers, and parents.